This research examines daily data on the use of the world’s 500 most visited websites by 118 countries. We analyze the worldwide website network, based on shared use by country, and the international network, based on joint website use, as well as the two-mode network are analyzed. We ask if the worldwide web is centered about the United States and if there are a series of linguistic and cultural communities? We describe its evolution over time and try to determine the effects of unanticipated shocks (such as the terrorist attacks on Paris) and predictable events (national holidays). This research is part of a Minerva project funded by the Office of Naval Research conducted by Prof. Barnett with Profs. Zeev Maoz and Brandon Kinne from UCD Political Science and Raissa D’Souza from of Computer Science & Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, along with numerous students and post-doctoral fellows.
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